Taming The Villainesses-Chapter 390: Friend (1)

I was a pretty macho kind of person.

No one would believe it just by looking at my half-fairy appearance.

But I placed great importance on the things a man ought to do. Things like taking responsibility, or challenging oneself. Obligations, in other words.

To me, masculinity meant survival and a sense of duty.

It was the same when it came to marriage.

When a man and a woman formed a household and got married, the man’s role was to be the head of the family.

The idea that the man protected the wife and children, serving as a dependable fence for them—that kind of stereotype was embedded in my mind.

Maybe it was because I’d never had a household of my own that I ended up idealizing those things as the way things should be.

In that sense, a proposal—courtship—was like a man’s challenge, something grand and decisive.

Even if there were no fancy events or glamorous rings, the man saying to the woman, “Marry me,” with lifelong resolve—something like that. That’s why Ayra’s actions were quite shocking to me.

“This is the traditional courtship dance of House Tarantella.”

Ayra began to spin in circles around me.

Finally, every stocking that had been clinging to her legs slipped off.

Walking barefoot across the stone floor of the fortress, light and graceful, her white, dainty feet mesmerized onlookers. People began to gather around, curious.

━What the hell is that?

━No clue. I don’t know what’s going on, but you don’t get to see something like this every day.

Queen Ayra’s awkward dance moves.

They had a way of drawing eyes. The problem was, Ayra was stripping off her clothes one by one.

Now, all that remained on her body were her top and bottom layers—and presumably the undergarments beneath them. As the buttons of her blouse came undone one by one, I felt the blood rush to my head.

“Ayra-nim, people are watching...!”

“This dance doesn’t stop until you give me your permission.”

Ayra’s attitude was firm. But I couldn’t make sense of it.

We were already legally recognized as a married couple. Did she really need to dance like this to court me?

Still, I could tell one thing for sure. I had to stop her somehow. At this rate, she’d end up exposing all that white skin of hers in front of everyone.

Of course, if a captivating woman like her was my lover and wife, I’d want to boast about it anywhere. But there had to be limits.

“All right, Ayra-nim. Please, stop for now.”

I grabbed her shoulders and brought her to a halt. Her face, flushed deep red with sweat and emotion, looked up at me as she asked,

“So I can take that as your acceptance?”

“What’s there to accept—we’re already married.”

“That’s true. But this is a bit different. To be honest, I never intended for anyone to win the tournament. Even if someone did, I had no intention of continuing married life.”

Gasps rippled through the crowd at Ayra’s confession. I was just as shocked.

“Then... you’re saying you lied, Ayra-nim?”

“...Teo. I don’t know what kind of person you think I am, but I do lie.”

It seemed like her explanation was going to be a long one. But I didn’t know what other shocking truths she might reveal next, so I decided I had to defuse the situation first.

“Let’s get out of here.”

There were too many eyes on us here.

So I picked up all the clothing Ayra had scattered and draped around, then held onto her shoulder and fled with her into one of the fortress’s less populated corridors.

As we were escaping, Ayra spoke.

“Then I’ll just have to show you the rest of the dance later, when it’s just the two of us.”

“...Was that really a traditional dance?”

“Yes. They said it’s never failed once.”

Well, yeah. If you’re proposing with a dance like that, there’s no way it could fail. I didn’t know what the remaining moves were, but I found myself slightly looking forward to it.

We turned a corner and arrived in a quiet hallway. A gloomy corridor bathed in the eerie glow of sunset. In that yellow-red light, Ayra’s white thighs shimmered faintly.

Only then did I realize she was walking barefoot without even her shoes on.

“Let’s start by getting you dressed.”

I helped her put on the stockings that still held her body heat, and slipped her shoes back onto her feet. Ayra didn’t resist my touch—she let me do it silently.

A noble woman entrusting her body to me like this—it felt rather wonderful. It gave me this strange sense of responsibility, like I had to take good care of her and make her even more beautiful.

Then, once she was fully dressed again, Ayra said,

“They say a man dressing a woman is proof of love. Lust undresses, but love clothes you—something like that.”

“Is that an actual saying?”

It sounded rather plausible. I felt like I might’ve heard something like that somewhere before, too.

“But it’s not just that. I like dressing you, Ayra-nim—but I like undressing you just as much.”

As soon as I said it, I regretted it. I’d just blurted out something that could be considered sexual harassment. But when I cautiously glanced over at her, Ayra’s face was glowing red—she actually looked... pretty happy.

Her expressions had become so much more colorful these days. As I was marveling at that, I suddenly heard a voice in the distance calling out to us.

It was Elga.

“Hey, Teo. That girl Mirna was looking for you. Said something about finding an imp or whatever.”

Elga appeared, dragging her casual shoes along. She looked back and forth between me and Ayra, then narrowed her eyes. She clearly didn’t like something.

Considering how badly things had blown up between them this morning, it was to be expected. Both Ayra and Elga had said some thorny things.

Then Ayra spoke up first.

“Sorry about this morning.”

Elga’s eyes widened in surprise. Then she began rubbing her arms and gave a visible shiver—like she was seasick or something.

“What the hell did I just hear? That doesn’t suit you at all. I heard you’ve had headaches from some kind of curse or whatever, but maybe you really are out of your mind.”

“......”

Ayra didn’t reply to Elga’s sarcasm. But I could tell that the mood between them had clearly softened since earlier.

The two of them had been like family long before I ever showed up.

Even when Ayra had a fearsome reputation as a tyrant, Elga was the only one who didn’t flinch and treated her casually—and Ayra trusted her quite a bit in return.

Maybe I didn’t need to worry about them at all. They’d get along on their own.

That thought led me to another: how did Ayra get along with the other women? What did she think of Mirna, Narmee, or Professor Stella?

And what about Professor Stella—how did she view the other noble ladies?

Until now, I’d been focused entirely on my own relationships with each of them, but maybe it was time I gave some thought to their relationships with each other.

So I asked,

“Ayra-nim, what do you think of Elga-nim?”

To that innocent question, Elga grumbled, “What kind of random question is that?” Yeah, it was kind of rude to ask something like that in public.

Then Ayra answered.

“I like Elga. If she were a man, I might’ve been engaged to her when we were kids. We’re cousins, and we’re close in age.”

At that frank response, Elga looked completely flustered.

“Ugh, I had no idea you saw me that way. I hate you. If we got married, I’d have to spend every day kissing your ass.”

“I’m kidding.”

Ayra wasn’t very good at jokes. But they both started laughing. Their smiles were so similar that I suddenly found myself envying the whole cousin dynamic.

***

We’d had a lot happen, but we continued the search for the imp still lurking somewhere in this fortress.

It was already dusk, which made our task harder, but thankfully, Mirna turned out to be quite capable.

“It’s somewhere nearby. I’m starting to feel a strong yin energy. Have there been any other jars or cursed objects found anywhere else?”

In response, Stella unrolled a map of Gargarta Fortress she’d brought from somewhere and began explaining.

“Here. At each of the fortress’s corner pillars, there are columns with magic circles engraved all the way down into the ground. They’re part of a large-scale explosive spell. If activated, they could blow up this entire area.”

That was basically the same as saying this place was rigged with time bombs. To think we’d only just discovered this. Or should I say it’s a good thing we even found out now?

Elga said,

“So it was a trap. No wonder the fortress fell so easily. We need to start pulling people out immediately.”

Everyone turned to look at Ayra. She’d been silently listening all this time, but now she opened her mouth with weight.

“I think so too. This expedition happened pretty suddenly. But I wouldn’t call it a failure. We’ve learned a lot from it. Have the army completely withdrawn before dawn.”

Once everyone agreed, they moved fast.

Those who had been resting and regaining their strength inside the fortress quickly packed up, forming lines to evacuate through the outer gates.

Watching them go, Elga asked,

“So, Ayra. What exactly did you want to do on this expedition? I get the feeling it wasn’t just about reclaiming the northern lands.”

“I wanted to catch them off guard. But it seems the other side is one step ahead of me. I guess straightforward tactics won’t cut it.”

“Your words are still all over the place, but... I can tell you’re fighting someone.”

Elga didn’t press further. Our attention turned back to the dead-end wall where Mirna was closely inspecting the cracks.

“We’ve gotta find that imp and put its soul to rest so we can get out of here too. Mirna, you sure you’re on the /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ right track?”

“Quiet, please. I’m trying to concentrate.”

Mirna snapped slightly at Elga’s question. We all fell a little sheepish for a moment.

“Hey, move aside.”

Elga pulled a rod from her hair, where it had been tucked like a hairpin. When she yanked it apart, it extended into a massive halberd—the Pulverizer.

“W-What are you doing!?”

“We don’t have time to search every nook. Just smash it.”

Fwoosh—she swung the heavy halberd back, then launched it like a bolt of lightning. It barely missed Mirna and slammed into the wall with full force.

BOOM—

CRACKLE—CRASHHH.

The wall broke apart like brittle candy. Behind it was pitch-black darkness. A space concealed behind nearly a meter of stone.

A pitch-black void.

“Light.”

When we illuminated it, we could see it was a stairway leading somewhere.

I said,

“I’ll go in. Elga-nim, Ayra-nim, you stay here in case anything happens. Miss Mirna, please keep watch. The ones coming with me will be Professor Stella and Miss Narmee.”